1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to validating electronic data, and more specifically relates to a system and method for capturing, securing, and validating online chat conversations.
2. Related Art
Currently, online chat programs, such as AOL INSTANT MESSENGER™ (“AIM”) and IBM's SAMETIME™ allow for real-time communication. Until the popularity of such chat programs became integrated into the workplace, email was often the common choice of business communications, allowing a sender to not only express specific details/solutions/ideas related to the business but also served as a repository of information. With chat programs, communication is often quick and swift, allowing for remote direction of instructions, discussions, and other pertinent conversations related to business processes.
Most users now use a combination of both email and chat programs as tools to provide the necessary communications within the business environment. However, the communication that takes place within the context of a chat program is not secure and there is no adequate tool to provide a secure mechanism for validating a past conversation, set of instructions, and so forth, similar to email encryption programs, such as LOTUS NOTES™.
Users that rely upon chat programs to log specific business activity, similar to that performed today with encrypted/archived “Sent” emails, cannot rely on a simple copy/paste operation from the chat program in order to record a conversation. The contents of the conversation can easily be manipulated and in no way can offer any protection. In addition, this issue can be further exacerbated by individuals who use chat programs to casually converse with other employees at work, in which conversations can be changed or used out of context, leading into difficult situations (e.g., sexual harassment, misdirection of instructions, etc.). As chat programs continue to become a mainstream source of business process and function, the need to develop a secure method of capturing/validating online conversations is necessary.